Haitian Occupation of Dominican Republic

[macocael]

Mirador I believe it was yellow fever that plagued the French troops rather than malaria (though that existed certainly and still does in some places along the border). There is no such thing as immunity to malaria.

Ironically malaria was almost eradicated in the 20th century but extermination was halted before it could achieve this end.

PS: let me amend that: one can develop immunity to certain forms of malaria but the most dangerous kind, the fatal form, prevalent nowadays in AFrica, at least from what I have read, does not admit of such protection. ALso the malaria bug is very transmutable so it resists efforts to vaccinate against it. It is a major killer globally.

 

[Mirador]

Mirador I believe it was yellow fever that plagued the French troops rather than malaria (though that existed certainly and still does in some places along the border). There is no such thing as immunity to malaria.

Ironically malaria was almost eradicated in the 20th century but extermination of the anopheles mosquito was halted before it could achieve this end.

Yellow fever and malaria are very similar diseases, both are caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes. Whether Leclerc and company succumbed to yellow fever or malaria is debatable. What is not debatable is that there is actually a natural immunity against malaria, and it is a red blood cell abnormality known as sickle cell. Sickle cell happens to lend those who have it considerable protection against malaria and yellow fever. The slaves imported from Africa brought with them this inheritable red blood cell abnormality, and the current population of the Dominican Republic is still highly affected by it.

 

[Chris]

Read the link story again by the very fine author Bernardo Vega. Rene Preval has not apologized for anything. The author is presenting a scenario were Preval along with Fernandez should both apologized for the massacres committed by both countries. The author cites other historical instances were public apologies are a necessary element for a country to move forward and attempt at facing its past head on.

Thanks for that clarification. I thought I was misunderstanding the Spanish, but I was not...

"Tal vez debemos aprovechar el muy raro hecho de que en ambos lados de nuestra isla ahora contamos con presidentes elegidos libremente, para que, en un acto solemne, tanto Ren? Preval como Leonel Fern?ndez pidan perd?n p?blicamente por los cr?menes cometidos por un pa?s contra el otro. Preval solicitar?a perd?n por los genocidios en Santiago y Moca de principios del siglo diecinueve y Fern?ndez har?a lo mismo por la masacre de fines de 1937."

 

[El Tigre]

THERE. wooosh in the history of DR1 I don't think there's ever been such a huge chop chop job.

STICK TO THE ORIGINAL POSTER'S QUESTIONS. or i'll keep on chop chop.

tataaaaa

Now why is it called the Dominican Republic? My head is dizzy after all that work. Was that question answered?

 

[macocael]

on sickle cell anemia (Falsemia)

Yellow fever and malaria are very similar diseases, both are caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes. Whether Leclerc and company succumbed to yellow fever or malaria is debatable. What is not debatable is that there is actually a natural immunity against malaria, and it is a red blood cell abnormality known as sickle cell. Sickle cell happens to lend those who have it considerable protection against malaria and yellow fever. The slaves imported from Africa brought with them this inheritable red blood cell abnormality, and the current population of the Dominican Republic is still highly affected by it.

I didnt know that sickle cell could provide immunity, though if that is so, and the disease as you state comes from Africa, why is Africa literally plagued by malaria? Also, for your theory to hold true, most all the Haitians would have to have been suffering from sickle cell anemia and that is simply not possible. They would all have died. Treatment for sickle cell requires blood transfusions when the sufferer has a crisis -- they just wouldnt have had the resources to cope. It is true that DR has a high incidence of sickle cell anemia (Called Falsemia in Spanish) -- so do the States -- but those sufferers require lots of care. My neighbor's kid has it and the unfortunate child has had several such crises. And simply because one carries the gene does not mean that one carries the putative immunity that you claim accompanies the disease itself. Nope, that theory doesnt wash. There has to be another explanation.

 

[macocael]

I really dont know where people get this idea that DR and Haiti will one day merge. No way.

But it is not because the two cultures are so "dissimilar" as Mirador puts it. On the contrary there is much in common between the two cultures and trans-cultural borrowing has been going on for centuries. Really it is about time people stopped looking at the relationship between these two countries with "miras estrechas." For pete's sake, give it up already and learn to get along.

 

[Mirador]

I didnt know that sickle cell could provide immunity, though if that is so, and the disease as you state comes from Africa, why is Africa literally plagued by malaria? Also, for your theory to hold true, most all the Haitians would have to have been suffering from sickle cell anemia and that is simply not possible. They would all have died. Treatment for sickle cell requires blood transfusions when the sufferer has a crisis -- they just wouldnt have had the resources to cope. It is true that DR has a high incidence of sickle cell anemia (Called Falsemia in Spanish) -- so do the States -- but those sufferers require lots of care. My neighbor's kid has it and the unfortunate child has had several such crises. And simply because one carries the gene does not mean that one carries the putative immunity that you claim accompanies the disease itself. Nope, that theory doesnt wash. There has to be another explanation.

Macocael, the fact that the sickle cell trait provides malarial protection is no idle speculation on my part, there are many recent studies on the subject, available through the net (google). For example:

Sickle.bwhHarvard.Edu

"Sickle trait provides a survival advantage over people with normal hemoglobin in regions where malaria is endemic. Sickle cell trait provides neither absolute protection nor invulnerability to the disease. Rather, people (and particularly children) infected with P. falciparum are more likely to survive the acute illness if they have sickle cell trait. When these people with sickle cell trait procreate, both the gene for normal hemoglobin and that for sickle hemoglobin are transmitted into the next generation. "

MalariaWelcome.AC.UK

"While it has been known for some time that sickle cell trait offers protection against malaria, the mechanisms have never been clear.
Now, a study - led by Dr Tom Williams of the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya - has discovered an unexpected link with immunity. Children with sickle cell trait have shown enhanced immunity to the malaria parasite, with the level of immunity increasing with age.
Sickle cell trait occurs when someone inherits a normal haemoglobin gene from one parent (HbA) and a sickle haemoglobin gene (HbS) from the other (resulting in HbAS). While children with sickle cell trait do not usually display symptoms, children who inherit a double dose of the sickle gene suffer from sickle cell disease, which can cause chronic ill health and early death. ...
The blood cell abnormality, sickle cell trait, gives an increasing amount of protection against malaria as young children grow during their first ten years of life, new research has revealed. Between the ages of two and ten immunity to the disease, which kills up to two million people a year, rises rapidly, a Wellcome Trust-funded study has found."

 

[Don Juan]

My post had relevance to the discussion at hand, yet you, Mr. Tiguere, chose to delete my entry! And I think you should be banished from th.........Bang!.....aaaagh! ..ship!!......

 

[tvanel]

Mosquitoes defeated the french?...can anyone provide some documented proof?...LOL

In the meantime....C R L james wrote a very good book on the Haitian Revolution: The Black Jacobins

while I am at it---here is what I found on the web:

In 1795 Spain ceded the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola to France as a result of its defeat in the wars that had been raging in Europe. Under French control the economy and vitality of the colony declined further. Meanwhile, a slave uprising had begun in Saint-Domingue, inflamed by the desire of mulatto freedmen for political rights, the inhuman conditions under which black slaves were forced to labour, and the revolutionary currents then sweeping France. Led by Toussaint-Louverture, the Haitians not only succeeded in throwing off French rule but soon overran parts of the previously Spanish eastern end of the island as well, instilling terror in the white ruling class. For a time French, British, and various Haitian armies all vied for control of Hispaniola. The Haitians evicted the main French army from the western part of the island, but Dominican colonists and British forces, in turn, drove the Haitians from the eastern part. In 1809 the colony was reunited with Spain. But in 1821 a group of Dominicans deposed the Spanish governor and declared independence, following the lead of the countries on the mainland. They named the fledgling nation the Independent State of Spanish Haiti.

Within weeks Haitian troops under Jean-Pierre Boyer (president of Haiti, 1818?43) again overran the eastern part of the island, initiating a 22-year occupation (1822?42). Haitians monopolized government power, severed the church's ties with Rome, forced out the traditional ruling class, and all but obliterated the western European and Hispanic traditions. In addition, Haitian troops arbitrarily confiscated foodstuffs and other supplies, and ethnic tensions caused further resentment. Dominican historians have portrayed the period as cruel and barbarous, but Boyer also freed the slaves, and his administration was generally efficient

here is the link...

Dominican Republic :: Haitian occupation --? Encyclopaedia Britannica

 

[bigjuan163usmc]

WWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW THANKS ALOT YOU GUYS!!!!!!! I finally have a more educated and sensible idea of what the history of my country is like. I got tired of asking people I know who would just straight up say "LOS HAITIANOS ESTABAN OPRESANDO NUESTRO PAIS!!!" (they got mad at me because I said the Haitians kind of liberated us when they got rid of slavery...if they didn't we'd have slavery much longer I think because Brazil took a while to get rid of it...and everyone knows a abunch of white Europeans aren't going to want to give up their slaves and do their actual yard work for themselves lol) but I knew it wasn't that simple because I don't believe in biased situations. I also found out some theories about why DR is called DR and I even learned about the history of diseases in my country. Thanks alot you guys, and thank you for discussing this in a mature and respectful manner instead of just bashing Haitians or Dominicans or whoever. This is the most educated and mature forum I have come across on the web, and how weird that is a Dominican forum lol because Quisqueya is the best place in the world thats why I came to study over here instead of studying in the US...because the US is gay lol jk. Thanks alot you guys, keep it up I'm writing a peice of work about the history between DR and Haiti. You guys are helping me out alot and of course I will cite you guys properly. Thanks alot and take care, peace.

 

[Mirador]

I'm sorry to wake you up from your slumber, but eating aguacate and plantain all day long and reading DR1, will not give you an inkling to DR history during those trying times. You should known by now that slavery was not an issue in the DR during the Haitian occupation, because the country was so poor that there were hardly any slaves. Slaves were very expensive and Dominicans could not afford them. Even the big landowners had but a few. All the bickering among the Dominican "patriots" on which way to go, with whom to align themselves, whether with the French, with Spain, the British, and even the fledging United States of America, or to go independent, which was Duarte's ideal, all hinged on who was going to pay for the government payroll. At the time, you could count the entire population of the Eastern part of the island with one hand, and have fingers left over. With very few exceptions, Dominicans were dead poor, having mostly only enough to feed themselves. Again, slavery was not an issue.

 

[bigjuan163usmc]

I'm sorry to wake you up from your slumber, but eating aguacate and plantain all day long and reading DR1, will not give you an inkling to DR history during those trying times. You should known by now that slavery was not an issue in the DR during the Haitian occupation, because the country was so poor that there were hardly any slaves. Slaves were very expensive and Dominicans could not afford them. Even the big landowners had but a few. All the bickering among the Dominican "patriots" on which way to go, with whom to align themselves, whether with the French, with Spain, the British, and even the fledging United States of America, or to go independent, which was Duarte's ideal, all hinged on who was going to pay for the government payroll. At the time, you could count the entire population of the Eastern part of the island with one hand, and have fingers left over. With very few exceptions, Dominicans were dead poor, having mostly only enough to feed themselves. Again, slavery was not an issue.

First of all, there's nothing wrong with aguacate and platano. Stop hating. Second of all I think this topic is very useful not to the historical sense but the different conceptions of what history was like in DR. Third of all, the word fledging....is really gay lol jk. But thanks now I also know a little bit more of what slavery COULD have been in DR and under what circumstances it existed....but I have read in accounts that after Brazil, Hispaniola recieved the most slaves (meaning Hispaniola was in 2nd place for number of most slaves)...so can you or someone please clarify this for me?

 

[NALs]

First of all, there's nothing wrong with aguacate and platano. Stop hating. Second of all I think this topic is very useful not to the historical sense but the different conceptions of what history was like in DR. Third of all, the word fledging....is really gay lol jk. But thanks now I also know a little bit more of what slavery COULD have been in DR and under what circumstances it existed....but I have read in accounts that after Brazil, Hispaniola recieved the most slaves (meaning Hispaniola was in 2nd place for number of most slaves)...so can you or someone please clarify this for me?

Correction, HAITI received the second largest number of African slaves (it was a ridiculous high number, something like 7 million*).

The vast majority of them (more or less 95%*) died as a result of being worked like animals by their French masters.

In fact, Haiti had the lowest life expectancy for any slave. Each slave that arrived on Haitian shores was expected to be dead around six months later.

No wonder the revolution that took place there was so violent.

By comparison, the USA only received around 600,000* slaves during the times it was allowed for humans to be imported as property (that was outlawed many years before slavery itself was outlawed). However, from that number the millions of African-Americans that existed as slaves decades later were procreated within US territory.

That is a very different story from what happened in Haiti and Brazil, where they actually imported more African slaves than they had total on the day slavery was outlawed in each country (in Haiti that was on the day of their independence).

Do a little more research into the slave trade in the Americas and you will see this peculiarity.

Keep in mind that the French colony of St Domingue (Haiti) only encompassed the western coast of the island of Hispaniola. If you look at a map of modern Haiti, pretty much the departements of Centre, the southern parts of Nordest and Nord departement, and huge chuncks of the Artibonite departement were in fact territory of the Spanish, and later Dominican territory which was sold to Haiti by Trujillo in order to put an end to border disputes.

-NALs

* These are rounded numbers based on data I have read in books and from what I can remember. Don't be surprised if, once you do your own research, the actual number may be slightly higher or lower than the one's I've posted here.

 

[Chip00]

First of all, there's nothing wrong with aguacate and platano. Stop hating.

FYI he said that toungue in cheek for sure.

Third of all, the word fledging(sp fledgling)....is really gay lol jk.

You are kidding right? I recommend you study up on your English. It might be fine in the DR but if you think this word is "gay" you will need to learn a lot more to work as a professional in the US.

I think if you take a little bit more of a mature tone about a serious subject as this you might get better results.

 

[Mirador]

First of all, there's nothing wrong with aguacate and platano. Stop hating. Second of all I think this topic is very useful not to the historical sense but the different conceptions of what history was like in DR. Third of all, the word fledging....is really gay lol jk. But thanks now I also know a little bit more of what slavery COULD have been in DR and under what circumstances it existed....but I have read in accounts that after Brazil, Hispaniola recieved the most slaves (meaning Hispaniola was in 2nd place for number of most slaves)...so can you or someone please clarify this for me?

First things first (since I'm a stickler for language). Your avocado and platano all day diet (Argh! gu?cala!!! I hate the stuff!!!) seems to be affecting your brain. My use of the word fledging to describe the United States of America at the time of Haiti's independence, is clear and acceptable. In this context, to talk about a fledging United States of America means that it was a new and incipient nation. Nothing gay about that!

Now for your second misconception. Although, the island of Hispaniola appears as one of the largest net importers of slaves from Africa at the time, very few African slaves actually stayed in the Eastern part of the island. The slaves were brought almost exclusively to work in the vast plantations set up by the French in the Western part of the island. The earnings produced by Haiti's slave based plantation economy represented more than the net worth of the original United States of America combined. Haiti was actually richer that the United States at the time of independence, due to the efficiency of the slave driven plantation production set up by the French. Again, the Eastern part of the island was practically uninhabited, and most of the population lived from subsistance farming, except for a few wealthy landowners. Income and tax revenues were so insufficient, that the preocupation, and infighting concerning independence (or association with one of the imperial European powers, and even the U.S.), centered on the fact that there wasn't enough resources even to pay for the government payroll. At the time, an independent Dominican Republic could not have survived economically on its own, a fact that made independence unpopular for Duarte, forcing him to give up his ideal and move to Venezuela, specifically to San Fernando de Apure, where he set up a fledging business (buying and selling bird (heron) feathers, for stuffing pillows and matresses), married, had six children (none of which visited the DR, and neither any of their living descendents that I know of).

 

[Ricardo900]

I would like this information straight, since we are on the topic. I've read by the 1800s their were about 40,000 to 60,000 slaves in a population of over 130,000. Does any one have any sites or sources that contradict that number, because it appears that there were a considerable amount of slaves in the DR.
This is one of the sources, Dominican Republic - RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS

 

[bigjuan163usmc]

Now for your second misconception. Although, the island of Hispaniola appears as one of the largest net importers of slaves from Africa at the time, very few African slaves actually stayed in the Eastern part of the island. The slaves were brought almost exclusively to work in the vast plantations set up by the French in the Western part of the island. The earnings produced by Haiti's slave based plantation economy represented more than the net worth of the original United States of America combined. Haiti was actually richer that the United States at the time of independence, due to the efficiency of the slave driven plantation production set up by the French. Again, the Eastern part of the island was practically uninhabited, and most of the population lived from subsistance farming, except for a few wealthy landowners. Income and tax revenues were so insufficient, that the preocupation, and infighting concerning independence (or association with one of the imperial European powers, and even the U.S.), centered on the fact that there wasn't enough resources even to pay for the government payroll. At the time, an independent Dominican Republic could not have survived economically on its own, a fact that made independence unpopular for Duarte, forcing him to give up his ideal and move to Venezuela, specifically to San Fernando de Apure, where he set up a fledging business (buying and selling bird (heron) feathers, for stuffing pillows and matresses), married, had six children (none of which visited the DR, and neither any of their living descendents that I know of).

So were the slaves brought to Santo Domingo first and THEN transported to the Eastern side or were they just brought straight to the Eastern side?

 

[Mirador]

So were the slaves brought to Santo Domingo first and THEN transported to the Eastern side or were they just brought straight to the Eastern side?

Your confusion may stem from the fact that the slave ship manifests wrote the short version, St. Domingue, as destination, instead of the entire name of the island, 'Isle de St. Domingue. At the time there were no land routes (roads) between Santo Domingo de Guzm?n, the capital of the Eastern side, and Port au Prince, which was the actual port of disembarkation for the African slaves.

 

[SuperConejo]

I dont have the name of the author handy, but i read a very good book called "negros, mulattos y la nacion dominicana" it is an old small book written in the Dominican Republic in 1975, one of the best books i ever read on the subject. This book details the shipment of Africans into d.r alot better.Another book whose author i dont remember but will post when i find is, "Africans in spanish america, it details the legal and ilegal slave trade and goes into great detail of how the system worked. But as far as the statistics go, their all over the place everywhere u look, but there is some standard to it. We know for sure presentday D.R imported alot of slaves, present day Haiti imported alot more slaves though, maybe 10 times more. But as NAL's mentioned the death rate was very high in haiti, so the # of imported slaves is not a good indicator of present populations or even censuses. ALSO
something that is written by many scholars is that the tally of africans imported is usually very under-numbered, specially in d.r were the illegal slave trade flourished as well. After the "official" stats were closed, when the dutch had control of the slave trade and they controlled much of west-central africa there was alot of slaves who reached the shores of d.r this way. Slaveowners would rather buy them ilegally from the dutch in curacao, because they had to pay no taxes to the spanish crown, and this meant more profit for them.

Also before haiti was haiti and dominican republic was dominican republic, there was a large maroon movement between the colonies. Lots of slaves escaped from the french controlled part into the spanish controlled part. WHY? because the spanish guranteed french-owned slaves freedom in their part of the island when they crossed over, in order to try to criple the french economy and to basically **** off the french. There were also many maroon settlements of Africans and Zambos all over d.r, specially in the mountainous areas of the Cibao an the South, and they were never counted in the census.

 

[El_Uruguayo]

"Income and tax revenues were so insufficient, that the preocupation, and infighting concerning independence (or association with one of the imperial European powers, and even the U.S.), centered on the fact that there wasn't enough resources even to pay for the government payroll."

So way back then the govt. had trouble collecting enough taxes, and on top of that govt. officials didn't believe that they were getting enough?
I guess some things never change.